Friends First
by The Shadow Hawk
Summary: Somewhere over the course of Shadow Hearts, Kurando would have had to have found out Anastasia was a Russian princess. Just a short story about his reaction.


_Friends First_

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

By: The Shadow Hawk

Pairing: Kurando/Anastasia

Disclaimer: Just because I really want Kurando doesn't mean I really have him. I don't really want Anastasia to kick me either…

Summary: Somewhere over the course of Shadow Hearts, Kurando would have had to have found out Anastasia was a Russian princess. Just a short story about his reaction.

* * *

It was a quiet night in Mukyo-An. Naniwa was away with Yoshiko for a few days leaving his home open to the group for a short rest before continuing their journey.

The party sat down for a late dinner. Yuri and Lucia were fighting over some rice balls while Karin screamed at them to stop. Joachim busied himself with filling his plate past capacity. Blanca prowled around the table just waiting for someone to stop paying attention so he could help himself. Kurando and Anastasia sat at the other end of the table watching the chaos while Gepetto busied himself with the newspaper.

When Yuri and Lucia finally calmed down, the meal began. Anastasia looked at Gepetto's paper. "Anything interesting happening?"

The old man quickly folded up the newspaper. "Oh no…nothing interesting. Nothing at all."

Yuri looked up, a rice ball half in his mouth. "I thought the paper said something about Russia today." Despite his garbled speech, everyone understood him.

Almost immediately, silence fell over the dinner table. Anastasia paled slightly. "What?"

"Yuri!" Karin smacked him in the head. "You idiot!"

"OW! What?" He glared at Karin but then remembered Anastasia was in the room. "Oh…my bad…"

"What did the paper say?" Worry filled the young princesses eyes.

Everyone except for Kurando and Anastasia looked at each other, worried. Even Blanca had some form of worry on his furry face. Kurando was confused. He knew Russia was having problems and that Anastasia was from Russia, but other than that he did not understand the connection.

"What aren't you guys telling me?" Anger was beginning to replace her fear. She absolutely hated it when older people hid anything from her. Even though many people did it to her, she was especially offended when information about Russia was kept from her.

"There wasn't anything in the paper…" Karin smiled, trying to reassure the princess. "We all know Yuri does stupid things. He just thinks there was something."

"Hey! I am not an idiot!" Yuri growled only to be met by Karin's elbow in his side. "Ow! But…you're right…I did make that up…silly me…" He rubbed his side and winced.

By this time, Anastasia was furious. Her eyes flashed angrily. "Liar! What aren't you telling me?"

"Honestly Anya dear, there wasn't anything. Yuri made a mistake that's all." Even Lucia, who was normally honest about everything, was attempting to shield her from the truth.

She turned to Joachim. "Are you going to lie to me too?"

"I…haven't looked at the paper today."

Anastasia desperately tried to blink back her tears of anger. "I can't believe all of you! Why are you treating me like a small child? Why don't you think I can handle this?"

"Now, now little lady, we're not treating you like a child. There's just nothing to tell." Gepetto patted her arm, trying to calm her down. Covertly though, he handed his newspaper to Cornelia and the small puppet ran away with it.

"If there's nothing to tell, give me the paper." She held her hand out, knowing they would never tell her.

"Oh come on, you're not really interested in the news are you? It's so boring." Yuri leaned back in his chair, trying to look relaxed.

Anastasia stood up, fists clenched, eyes closed. "I can't believe you're doing this…" She hissed through her teeth and ran for Cornelia before anyone knew what she was doing. The dainty puppet couldn't outrun the angry princess and she got the paper. Blanca ran to grab the paper out of her hands but only managed to rip off the bottom half. Anastasia had the top half and that was the part with the important part. Everyone froze. Anastasia only had to read the large headline and the paper slipped out of her shaking hands.

Karin stood up immediately. "Anya…"

Anastasia closed her eyes again and raised her hand, making everyone silent. "I know you guys are trying to protect me from this…and I suppose I should be a little thankful…but you can't protect me forever…" Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She shook the paper angrily at them. "I have a right to know about this! It hurts worse when you try to hide it from me!" Before anyone could say anything, she fled from the room and through the front door.

Kurando was about to chase after her when Yuri grabbed his arm. "Don't Kurando. She probably wants to be alone…"

He looked at the doors, worried, but did not follow. Instead, he picked up the half of the paper Anastasia had been holding. In large bold letters, he saw _'Tsar Nicholas II Injured in Assassination Attempt.'_ He blinked. He knew Anastasia was fiercely loyal to her country but he still could not understand why this news upset her so much. Kurando folded the newspaper and put it on the table. "Is there something I'm missing here?"

"What do you mean?" Yuri for once was genuinely confused.

"Why is Anya so upset? It's not good news but I don't see…"

"Oh…no one's told you, have they?" Karin nervously bit her fingernail.

"Apparently not because I have no idea what you are talking about." The samurai was having trouble sorting out his current emotions. He was worried about Anastasia, confused by the way everyone was acting and annoyed that there was something he wasn't being told.

"Well…" Karin started slowly, unsure of how to explain. "You know Anya's full name is Anastasia but I guess you never have heard her full title…"

"Title?"

"She is the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, fourth princess of the Romanov Dynasty. The Tsar is her father."

The title hit him like a ton of brinks. Anastasia…a princess…of course she would be upset over someone trying to kill her father. Seconds later another thought hit him, a fairly selfish thought. Over the time he'd spent with the group, he found himself oddly attracted to the young princess. But now knowing she was a princess that would make her…what was the phrase Yuri would use…out of his league?

He realized he must have been out of it when he found that Yuri was waving his hand in front of his face. "Hey, Earth to Kurando? You still there?"

"Hm? Oh…yes…sorry…excuse me. There is something I need to do." Kurando straightened up and headed for the door. This time, no one stopped him from going to see Anastasia.

Outside, the princess in question was weeping in the garden. Kurando watched her from a little ways away, wanting nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms and let her cry but thinking that would be completely out of the question. Though Anastasia never looked at him, she seemed to know he was there. After a moment, she turned her face to the stars.

"So…did the others send you out here to see if I was okay?"

"It's getting late…you shouldn't be out here by yourself."

Slightly confused, she looked over her shoulder. "What?"

He felt like someone was trying to rip his heart out of his chest when she looked at him with her tear-streaked face. "It could be dangerous…"

"Oh…" She laughed somewhat bitterly and stood up. "So they told you who I am did they? A princess needs a bodyguard I suppose…though it's hard to be a princess when your country is falling apart…"

"You should come back inside, Princess…"

"Princess? You always used to call me Anya…" She turned to him and cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"That was before I learned who you really are." He bowed to her when she faced him and did not raise his eyes to meet hers.

"Kurando…why are you acting so funny?" His attitude was starting to upset her again.

"You are a princess. I am a samurai. I should not be as familiar with you as I have been." It hurt to say those words but his duty-oriented mind screamed at him that this was what he had to do. Even though he cared for her very much, what could he offer her? He knew his status wasn't anything near the men she would have been introduced to as a Russian princess.

"Wha…?" She was nearly in tears again. "So…you find out I have a title and turn into a servant? None of the others treat me like that and they've known longer than you!"

"It is improper." His answer was very monotone.

"Proprieties be damned, Kurando! Chances are in a few months or weeks even, my father won't be in power anymore and I won't be a princess either!" She nearly screamed at him through her tears. "I don't need servants! I need friends!" She pointed back to the door. "So if you're not going to be a friend then just leave me alone!" She hated yelling at the man she cared for so deeply but his current attitude combined with what had happened at the dinner table was not making her feel very good. It was too much to handle in such a short time and he was just going to have to be her verbal punching bag. She stepped away from him again and turned around, not wanting him to see that she was about to burst into tears again.

They stood in silence for what felt like an eternity. Her words echoed in his head. Kurando did what his heart demand he do from the start. _'Proprieties be damned indeed…'_ He thought to himself and closed the painful distance between them. He pulled her into his arms, holding her back to his chest. Upon being welcomed into his arms, her tears started again again. She collapsed against him when her legs decided not to work anymore. Kurando guided her to the ground and they settled in the soft grass. As she cried, Kurando rested his cheek on her head. "I'm sorry Anya…I was being stupid…"

She laughed ever so slightly as she pulled away to look at him. "Yeah…you were but I won't hold that against you…I'm sorry I yelled at you…I just…" She got choked up again and stopped talking.

"You don't need to explain…I deserved that…I shouldn't have let one piece of information change our relationship."

"I forgive you Kurando…I should have told you who I was…but there was never a good time really."

He smiled and brushed away her tears with his thumb. "You're a forgiving monarch, my lady." His tone was slightly teasing and she smiled a little more.

"You're too much."

"I don't want to see you cry. You're much prettier when you smile."

That comment brought a dark blush to her cheeks. "Kurando…"

"Anya…may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What brought you on this adventure? I've wondered since I met you and now that I know who you really are…it makes even less sense. I'm not trying to sound like a servant but it is very dangerous here."

She sighed softly and disengaged herself from his arms. "Would you believe that being here with Yuri and everyone else fighting demons and such is safer then being in Russia?"

"This is safer?"

"No one is really willing to say it out loud but yes…when I first met Yuri and the others, I was backed in an alley by a demon that followed orders from someone who tried to assassinate my father. I took a picture proving that Rasputin was plotting to kill him but they caught me. They came just in time." She ran her hand through her hair. "Honestly I feel like I have a greater chance of being killed while I'm asleep at home than I do out here fighting with everyone…Rasputin may be gone, but the citizens still want blood. You saw the paper…they want my family dead…and now we don't really know what Nicolai and Kato are up to. But what ever it is, it can't be good. I don't want to see anyone else get hurt."

For a moment, Kurando was in awe of her words. It was hard to find any girl, any person really, who had convictions as strong as hers. Her strength and determination in the face of such hardships was making him fall for her further. "Anya…I promise I'll help you in whatever way I can…I want to protect you. Will you let me?"

She looked at him curiously. "Well…I suppose there's no talking you out of it so I guess I'll have to accept…so long as you're still my friend."

"Always friends first, my princess." He smiled warmly at her.

She blushed at his tone of voice, thankful it was fairly dark. He made the title princess sound like a term of endearment rather than just a title. His words may have said friendship but his tone implied something deeper. She stood up, trying to lessen the unspoken tension. "It is getting fairly dark out here…maybe we should go inside. You can start your job as bodyguard and take me back inside, my samurai."

Kurando smiled and stood up, offering her his hand. She took his hand but was unprepared for him to pull her up into his arms. She felt like she was on fire in his arms. She always felt this way around him, it wasn't fair. Something as simple as his touch sent her mind reeling but being this close to him, she wouldn't be able to for coherent sentences for a long time.

"Ready to go back in?" She only managed a slight nod. He smiled and released her from his arms so that they could walk. He offered her his arm which she gratefully took. She wasn't sure she'd be able to walk without help.

Karin and Lucia watched them and sighed. Yuri raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"They're so cute together." Karin smiled. "It's like watching a movie."

Lucia tapped her cheek with a finger. "I really do hope they have a happy ending."

"Couldn't you just look into their future?" Joachim was sitting on the floor, reading a book.

Lucia looked offended. "Where would the fun be in that? You can't read the end of a book without reading the middle." She looked thoughtful. "Besides, I'm not supposed to look into the future unless someone's paying. That's what Carla always says."

Yuri reached into his pack. "How much? I wanna know what happens."

Karin smacked him in the head. "No! You're the last person who should know what happens to them. They'd never hear the end of it."

"Quit hitting me!" Yuri stalked to the other side of the room. "And I wouldn't use it against them…"

"Very often." Joachim added almost without missing a beat.

The two women laughed when Yuri glared at him. "Hey! Whose side are you on here?"

"Anya's." The large vampire put away his book and stood up. "It's her life. You should stay out of it."

"That's sweet Joachim. It's nice to know there are other kind men traveling with us." Karin smiled sweetly.

"Hey! What the hell am I then?"

"We're still trying to figure that out." Lucia laughed.

Yuri growled. "No one's ever on my side!"

Ignoring Yuri's grumbling, the two women looked out the window again at the now empty garden. "So Lucia, where's my samurai?"

She crossed her arms and sighed. "Wherever mine is. Anya's just lucky she found hers."

* * *

I think this is my last SH:C fic. I think I've run out of ideas. But it was a decent 3 story run I think. I wanted to see more KurAna so I added some. Thanks to people who reviewed any of what I wrote. You rock. I'll still be lurking around this section of just probably not adding any more. Or maybe I will. I dunno. I love KurAna. But nothing is in the works so don't look too hard.

Bye!

-The Shadow Hawk


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